High Cholesterol Medication

Hi everyone.

Brand new here...

I have recently been advised by my Doctor that my cholesterol level requires attention.   It is 236. LLD is too high.  HLD not high enough.

He is concerned because of my family history.  My father had his 1st heart attack at 42 and a fatal heart attack at 53.  He wants me to take Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor or any statin for that matter.

I really don't want to take a statin. I am trying to get information on alternative approaches, and have tried everywhere.

I was doing research and stumbled upon some alternatives to statins.

Anyone have any experience with Cholestasys or Cholestapro?  They are basically like vitamens, but the makers claim that they reduce cholesterol levels as much as 30 points in 30 days.

By the way, I am 42. Same age as my father when he had his 1st heart attack.  However, unlike my father, I consider myself to be in fantastic shape.  I am 5'10'' 175 lbs.  I have 6 pack abs and a 34" inch waist.  I work out every other day (60 push ups, 3 sets of 40 stomach crunches, planks, various other excercises, plus I lift weights. I have worked out every other day for a decade now... I recently had EKG/Stress tests and came out with flying colors.

I am concerned about my cholesterol, but really don't want to take a statin. 

Any feedback on Cholestasys or Cholestapro would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the HW Krash. Sounds like you are doing alot of the right things to be healthy. Statins are costly and can have alot of bad side effects. If you can find a way to reduce your chol. great but do something, with a family history and a high chol, level now could cause problems later. Good luck and i'll keep you in my prayers. DELTA

 hi ther. i have some experience with the statins, and i just cannot tolerate them, however, i have male friends that have been quite successful on them.  i am a female that has taken great care of myself with no other health problems, a stress test showed i was in 60% better condition that most women in my age group.  then bamm, i found out i had coronary artery disease and had two stents placed.  so here would be my 10 cents for you.  try lipitor first and see how you do on it, give it about 6 months, it is not going to hurt you, pay attention to your muscles and any new aches or pains.  if you do not have any, stay on them, i wish i could take them but they make my muscles sore and weak.  actually your cholesteral of 236 isn't that awful, but if you good cholesteral is not at least 45, and your triglycerides are haiger tha lets say about 150, then that would be cause to stay on those statins.sounds like you are doing everything right, thats the part that bumms me out, but we just inherited the problem.  good luck.  have you started taking a baby aspirin everday, with food, just for a precaution? that will keep your blood thin  bye for now.

Yes and statins can kill you, or make you wish that you were dead :(

Hi Elisha :)

I got my LDL direct results back, = 155.

The medicine that was most used to lower triglycerides was and probably is still Tricor, which is a fenofibrate that carries the very same warnings as statins. Another in the Tricor class is Gemfibrozil (sp?). Triglycerides >1000 carry a risk of causing pancreatitis (deadly) along with heart disease. They aggressively try to get it under 1000.

He needs to try a statin to lower his LDL and total c. The trouble is....taking both of these medicines can and does increase the liklihood of adverse reactions. I took both for awhile. Tricor much longer because I had to get the tri's down. I truly believe it caused peripheral neuropathy in myself. This is documented to happen with either statins or tricor. It's kinda hidden but you can find it. I would start hurting so bad that I would have to stop the tricor for 2-3 weeks. I took a statin called Baycol,with tricor which was a definite no-no. Baycol was removed from the market because of too many deaths due to rhabdomyolsis. Crestor is now the number one bad statin. People are trying to get it off the market. I tried it when it came out and wham......It put me out!

No alcohol at all for him. It will increase the tris!!

Good day :)

Rj

Thank you Aldo, I asked him yesterday and he is on Tricor.  His doctor who used to be a NASA scientist, ordered another blood draw for three weeks after he has been on the med.  He went and did that last week but hasn't gotten the results back yet.  I was just shocked when he told me how high his numbers were... Dreamy - Yes, all those meds are terrible for putting on weight and it is almost impossible to get it off.  It is almost like giving you the option of living with a terrible mental illness or developing complications from the weight gain and multiple medications...which is better?  I don't know...

Thnks RJ, For the information - happy 4th to you all too

I have family history aswell. Im of south asian decent which has 4xs higher risk than rest of population. My cholestrol was high. Particularly Triglycerides. My LDL was in 140 range, so my dr. put me on 10 mg lipitor. That is doing well and got me down to close to 100ish. My trigs were still high, HDL was ok. So my doctor was going to put me on tricor, but I was concerned with liver issues with too many drugs. I did research on high trigs, (just google high trigs and you get a wealth of information). Go to the american heart assocations website and look what they recomend for high trigs-- Omega 3 fatty acids. Safe on liver! you need 2-4 grams of EPA and DHA. so when you go to the store, look for the best one with highest amount of EPA and DHA. I myself, was taking costco fish oil-- but later was put on Omacor (same stuff as the store bought, but more purified) and got my trigs down from about 500 to 59!! and its natural so doesnt interact with lipitor.

Okay family history...I am of Italian dissent on both sides 100%.  Both mother and fathers family history has heart disease and defects that go way back.  I have never done the research on it as far as nationality goes but, I do know that most if not all foods that my g-ma makes is heavy with fat and artery clogging grease.  Something to think about

No I have never heard of that RJ...interesting.  Funny thing is that my great-grandmother who came over here from Italy (small town near Rome, Terni) never had a health problem in her life.  Not even a cold.  She used to hang sausages in her basement...lol! but she was overweight and cooked all those very fattening dishes all the time that we only make now on special occasions for that reason alone.  She didn’t get much exercise, just walking to the corner market and to her church, which was 2 blocks away.  She used to say that garlic cured everything...maybe it does?

Krash,

It is water soluble fiber made from citrus pectin and guar gum. I'm currently using it. You must drink it 3 times per day. Apparently, there is some actual research that backs up the product's claims.

My total cholesterol was down a few points on my last blood test. My triglycerides were way down, almost 200 points, to almost normal. However, my HDL is still low and my LDL is still a little high.

However, I am 1) a smoker 2) lax in my exercise & 3) a newly diagnosed T2 diabetic & 4) I had only been taking ProFibe a month before my test.

I have been exercising more, I am getting my BG levels under control, so I expect my numbers to be better on my next blood test. Of course, I also have plans to quit smoking.


You may also want to consider Niacin. There is solid clinical evidence for Niacin, but I believe you need to take a fairly large dose for it to be effective; and there are side effects, so do a lot of research on that product if you decide to go that route.

Unfortunately, Niacin can raise blood sugar, so it's not an option for me.

Santoz, I have had to edit your post as it violates forum rules and guidelines #4 of no advertising or spamming.  Please become familiar with the forum rules before posting.  Thank you ~ Elisha https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=46&m=106997

Post Edited By Moderator (els) : 7/9/2006 5:55:42 AM (GMT-6)

Hi Elisha,

 

I understand editing my signature URL; that was my bad.  I apologize.

 

However, I have no interest (monetary or otherwise) in ProFibe, whose link I posted in the body of my thread. 

 

As per your stated rules:

 

"Links to helpful web sites (commercial or otherwise) are allowed when they are posted by someone without any "vested interest" AND whose purpose is NOT to solicit, advertise, promote, fundraise, etc."

 

I only put the link to the ProFibe site to help the original poster and other readers, so I do not believe those links needed to be edited (assuming I’m understand the rules correctly).

Hey Dream :)

I don't know about how to get into the trial. I do know that the Cleveland Clinic is/was involved. It is all so mysterious!!! If I run upon something, I will let you know.

I also watched a webcast of a doctor who was injecting HDL into a CAD patient, more than a year ago. The patient said his blockages had been removed. I thought that this "stuff" would soon be available for all. What happened? Where did it go???? Was the patent bought and buried? (sinister music now)

Years ago, I took prescription Niaspan, 2000mg. I woke about 3 am and I thought the bed was on fire! I was experiencing the niacin flush. I thought I was experiencing spontaneous human combustion, ha ha ha.

I forgot why I don't take niacin, until yesterday....I read the post above about niacin and tried 500mg. I didn't flush, but it made me sick. Someone told me once that their daughter could not take it because it made her sick. I had been taking it for awhile (OTC) and had been feeling worse than normal. I stopped the niacin and immediately sterted to feel better.

I ordered a case of Red Yeast Rice (RYR) about a year ago. This is the main ingredient in one of the statins. I forget which one. RYR carries the same warnings as statins and can be as dangerous. It is also not regulated by the FDA, or it wasn't the last time I checked because it is considered a supplement. I had the same adverse reactions to RYR, as I have had to all the statins.

I will see what I can find out about the APO-1 Milano.

Good day to all, and I hope all are well (Hi Delta) :)

Rj